Many Indians to be hit as US changes Immigration Policy; Read Here

New Delhi, May 23: From now on, an “alien” person, who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card, “must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances”.

This is the latest announcement by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is bound to affect tens of thousands of Indians who aspire to live and work permanently in that country.

The new order means that those in the US on temporary visas must return to their home countries to apply for a Green Card, if they want, to live and work permanently in that country.

 

The Green Card is also known as Permanent Resident Card, which makes any foreign national a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) of the United States of America.

 

The new order marks a sweeping reversal of a practice in place for over half a century in the US.

 

This is the latest step in the Trump Administration’s ongoing efforts to curb legalizing of immigration for foreigners already in the US.

 

Who would be affected?

 

There are lakhs of foreign nationals in the US legally.

 

Till now, those married to American citizens, holders of student and work visas and refugees and asylum-seekers could apply for and get the Lawful Permanent Residency without leaving the United States.

 

According to the new directive of the Customs and Immigration Services Department, “those who come to the US on non-immigrant visas, chiefly students, temporary workers and tourists, are expected to remain in the country for a short time and a specific purpose.”

 

“Nonimmigrants, like students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the U.S. for a short time and for a specific purpose. Our system is designed for them to leave when their visit is over. Their visit should not function as the first step in the Green Card process,” said a statement issued by the Immigration Department.

 

The Department said the move would ensure that the US State Department could now handle the majority of these cases at its consular offices abroad.

 

It would also free up “limited USCIS resources to focus on processing other cases that fall under its purview.” The latter includes visas for “victims of violent crime and human trafficking, naturalization applications, and other priorities,” according to the agency.

 

However, a subset of the current application pool could be spared from this process if they met certain “extraordinary circumstances”, something USCIS has not currently defined.

 

Human rights groups have flagged this as granting officers open-ended discretion, with no clear standard for who qualifies and who does not.

 

The agency told the Associated Press in an emailed statement that people who provide an “economic benefit” or “national interest” could likely stay in the US, while others would have to go abroad to apply.

 

 

Crackdown on Legal Immigrants:

 

The latest order is part of a sustained campaign by the Trump administration to restrict the legal immigration pathway.

 

Last month, the US expanded a visa bond programme, which requires deposits of up to $15,000, to cover nationals of 50 countries

 

In January, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that refugees undergoing green card screening could be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

 

This policy drew on a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act, stating that refugees who do not apply for a green card after a year are required to return to DHS “custody.”

 

It also cancelled a 2010 memo noting that the refugees’ failure to apply for legal permanent status within a year in the US did not constitute a basis for their legal detention.

 

Also in January, the Trump administration’s expanded travel ban, barring or restricting entry for people from 39 countries, took effect.

 

In November 2025, the Immigration Department announced a sweeping review of the Green Card scheme after an Afghan national shot two National Guard soldiers near the White House, killing one. The shooter had entered the US in 2021 and had his status repeatedly renewed.

 

The review introduced country-specific factors as “significant negative factors” in immigration decisions, with officers now required to assess applicants’ countries of origin and stated purpose in the US.

 

Also that month, the administration froze green card processing for roughly 230,000 refugees admitted under the Biden administration.

 

It separately proposed a sweeping “public charge” rule that would allow officers to deny green cards to anyone deemed likely to use government benefits in future.

 

Following a separate shooting at Brown University in December, the US suspended the Diversity Visa programme after the shooter was identified as a former lottery winner.

 

The programme offers 50,000 green cards annually by lottery to applicants from under-represented countries.

 

A legal challenge to the suspension is currently underway, with the programme’s current cycle set to expire in September.

 

In one of its first actions in office, the Trump administration moved to end birthright citizenship. The move stripped children of visa holders of automatic US citizenship and a future route to sponsoring parents for residency.